Guide to the great fame animals (Ungulata) in the Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History) : Illustrated by 53 text and other figures.

  • British Museum (Natural History). Department of Zoology.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Guide to the great fame animals (Ungulata) in the Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History) : Illustrated by 53 text and other figures. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [North Hall.] [Lower Mammal Gallery. Case 39*.] typical colour is bay with black “ points ” and often a white star on the forehead, and the mane and tail are long and full. The skull generally shows a slight depression in front of the socket of the eye. Many of the dark-coloured Horses of Europe have Barb or Arab blood in their veins, this being markedly the case with the Old English Black, or Shire Horse, the skull of which shows a distinct depression in front of the eye-socket. This depression is still more marked in the extinct Indian E. sivalensis, which may have been the ancestral form. In this connection, attention may be directed to the series of skulls of famous Thoroughbred and Shire Horses exhibited in the North Hall. The skulls of Race-Horses include those of “ Stock- well,” “Bend-Or,” “ Ormonde,” and “ Donovan”; while Shires are represented by “ Blaisdon Conqueror ” and “ Prince William,” both famous horses in their time. The presence in the skull of Thoroughbreds and Arabs of the above-mentioned slight depression in front of the socket of each eye is noteworthy, since this, although now serving as the attachment for the muscle running to the nostril, may represent a much deeper depression in the skull of the extinct three-toed Hipparion (shown in a Table-case in the North Hall), which has been regarded as the receptacle for a face-gland like that of Deer and many Antelopes. The limb-bones of “ Stock- well ” and “ Blaisdon Conqueror ” are exhibited in a wall-case in order to show the difference between the Thoroughbred and the Cart-Horse types. Asiatic ^sses resemble the Horse in the absence of stripes, Wild Asses alth°ugh there may be a dark streak down the back, and at times another across the shoulders, and bands on the limbs. The Asiatic Asses, which might well be collectively called Kiangs or Onagers, have moderate ears, the tail rather long, and the back-stripe dark brown and running from head to tail. On the neck and withers this stripe is formed by the mane. They come nearer to the Horse than do any other members of the family. There are two species of Asiatic Wild Ass, with several varieties. The first and largest has two races—the Chigetai (Equus liemionus) of Mongolia, and the Kiang (E. h. kiang, 1013) of Tibet, which is a redder animal. The Onager (E. onager), of which there are several races, is smaller, with a